Phew - what a summer! The Boro's transfer targets trail climbed, dropped and snaked like a rollercoaster.

The club chased many quality targets, but it was not until the new campaign was already underway that Boro were able to make the breakthrough and bring in big name signings.

So it was no surprise to hear Steve McClaren reveal in the Evening Gazette that this was his most frustrating summer ever.

Fortunately, the Boro boss did get there in the end, even if the battle to attract new faces did go right down to the wire.

Last-gasp signing Boudewijn Zenden agreed to join the Boro on Saturday, and linked up with Gaizka Mendieta and Danny Mills in a pretty impressive trio of loan signings.

The transfer trail was never more nerve-wracking for McClaren than towards the end of last week, as he strove to put the last piece of the jigsaw into place.

It did not look too promising for the Boro boss when Zenden was quoted on the Thursday as saying that he would love to join Paris St Germain.

However, 24 hours later, the news was better when Inter Milan announced on their official website they had agreed a deal with Boro for Stephane Dalmat to come to Teesside on a year-long loan.

In fact, it got better still for a while, when Zenden's projected move to Paris St Germain failed to bear fruit and McClaren was informed by his agent that the Dutch winger was available after all.

However, the good news lasted for only a short while, because Spurs, who had been alerted to the fact Boro had agreed a deal for Dalmat, contacted Inter Milan to match it.

So, while Zenden headed north to join Boro, Dalmat was met by Spurs officials at Heathrow and whisked away to agree a year-long loan deal at White Hart Lane.

So, everybody was relatively happy by 5pm on Monday, and McClaren was spared the setbacks which had led to frustrations earlier in the summer.

No doubt the number of players which Boro inquired about, but failed to make progress over, runs into dozens.

It's routine, of course, to make lots of inquiries. Managers need plenty of background information before hardening up their interest in any potential target.

But the arduous task of making non-stop inquiries went on for longer than might have been anticipated.

The Evening Gazette managed to keep fans well informed about most of Boro's major summer targets.

There were dozens of e-mails posted on a well-known website when we announced in June that Boro were linked with Mendieta, but we were proved right.

In fact, the only time we were caught cold was by Zenden's sudden about-turn.

But the Sports Gazette was the first newspaper to announce the news - so we still beat 'em all to the punch.

Zenden certainly wasted no time in making a big impression at his press conference on Saturday.

The Dutch winger spoke perfect English throughout and comfortably dealt with the gathering of experienced hacks without the aid of club officials or coaches.

He oozed confidence, brushed aside the more difficult questions, and left no doubts that he believed he could do well for the club.

When asked about the collapse of his proposed move to Paris St Germain in midweek, Zenden announced succinctly and diplomatically that he had never been to Paris - except on holiday.

He revealed that he had received several offers in recent weeks, but discussions with George Boateng had helped him to make up his mind about coming to Teesside.

Zenden said: "Everybody I spoke to was very positive about Middlesbrough. Even George couldn't come up with any negative aspects."

In fact, Zenden was so happy to come up to Teesside from London to sign on the dotted line for a year-long loan, that he travelled by train.

This is not the usual preferred mode of travel for a Premiership footballer, but it proved effective, even if Zenden had to rush off before the final whistle on Saturday to catch the return train home.

In a picture of the directors' box which was taken by Evening Gazette photographer Dave Charnley during Saturday's match, Zenden is the only person seen to be smiling.

It's clear he can't wait to get on with the job.

There's no pleasing everybody.

Most Boro fans are delighted to see quality signings come into the club. But one Sunday newspaper started its match report at the weekend by announcing: "The last time Middlesbrough assembled such an all-star cast they ended up in the Nationwide League."